Pedal boats have been in the market place as a source of leisure and relaxation for members of the public. Various constructions have been reported.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,775,950 to Dearmond discloses a pedal propelling attachment for boats in which a pedal crankshaft turned by the seated user, is coupled by a sprocket chain to a propeller drive shaft. The construction requires two right angle gear drives, one right angle gear drive coupling the sprocket gear system to a vertical drive shaft outside the rear of the boat and a second second right angle gear drive that couples the lower end of the vertical drive shaft to the horizontal propeller shaft under the boat. The driver's seat is coupled to the housing of the vertical drive shaft such that the user can steer the boat by turning his seat thereby steering the boat by turning his body leaving his hands free.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,648,846 to Hsu discloses a pedal boat wherein the boat is two pontoons supporting a seat and foot operated paddling arrangement. A vertical drive tubular shaft is coupled by bevel gears at an upper end to the crankshafts of a pair of pedals and at the lower end by a second transmission gear to a propeller shaft. A steering shaft enclosed by the tubular vertical drive shaft is coupled at an upper end to a steering member and at its lower end to the propeller housing so that rotation of the steering member by the operator changes the orientation of the propeller housing to steer the boat.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,140,076 to Borglum discloses a paddle wheel arrangement with two pairs of pedals, one pair on one side and the other pair on an opposite side of the paddle wheel. The steering mechanism includes a rudder operated with a rudder arm located in the center of the boat.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,891,024 discloses the shaft of a pair of pedal cranks coupled by a drive shaft with universal joint to a vertical shaft which is coupled by a pair of bevel gears to a horizontal propeller shaft. The steering mechanism includes a lever arm configured similar to the gear shifting stick of an automobile coupled to a rotatable steering column supporting the propeller housing.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,183,422 to Gulboche discloses a pair of paddlewheels coupled to a pedal crank shaft by a belt in which the "boat" is a float, (similar to a large automobile tire inner tube) with a central opening where the paddlewheel is located under the seat of the driver. Steering is accomplished by controlling rotation of the paddle wheels relative to one another.
The foregoing disclosures are characterized by at least one of the following limitations.
1. The pedal systems of the cited art such as those incorporating a paddlewheel is integral with the construction of the boat. PA1 2. The power loss in transmitting power from the pedals to the propeller is inherently increased using transmission systems incorporating universal joints. PA1 3. Power is not conserved such as can be achieved by incorporation of a flywheel PA1 5. Gear drive and sprocket drive introduce certain inherent requirements such as greasing, and construction costs such as mounting components to close tolerances, loss of tolerances, increased necessity for environmental protection, etc. PA1 6. The seating arrangement is not designed for greatest efficiency of the pedalling and steering operations.